Batwoman: Who Is Killer Croc?

The CW’s Batwoman returns for another episode of its third season tonight, furthering the adventure of Ryan Wilder / Batwoman (Javicia Leslie) and the Bat Team. As the group continues to hunt down the various Batman villain trophies that have been unleashed on Gotham City, they are expected to come face to face with a new incarnation of Killer Croc, who has been turned after being exposed to the original Killer Croc’s tooth. If you’re wondering what Killer Croc’s canon is in the comics — and how that might tie into Batwoman — here’s what you need to know.

Created by Gerry Conway, Gene Colan, and Don Newton in 1983’s Detective Comics #523, Killer Croc was established as a man named Waylon Jones, who was born with a medical condition that made him morph into a crocodile/human hybrid. After being ostracized for much of his childhood, Waylon became a part of sideshow carnivals, where he earned the name “Killer Croc.” From there, he turned to a life of crime, and rose to the top of the society of Gotham’s underworld. Croc continued to pop up pretty frequently in the comics and go toe-to-toe with Batman, and famously mutated into a more monstrous version of himself after being exposed to a virus from Hush. 

In the New 52 continuity, Croc’s origin story remained largely the same, except that he was born and raised in Gotham City, and quickly began to live in its sewers. Croc later joined the Suicide Squad, and even developed a romantic relationship with Enchantress.

On Batwoman, Killer Croc is set to be a teenager named Steven, who was exposed to the tooth of Waylon Jones and quickly morphed into a deadly beast.

“It was a lot of fun,” Leslie said of shooting the episode. “They hired an actor who was huge in real life. He’s like a really big guy, so we didn’t have to fake anything with special effects. So, the stunts were fun and he was creepy. Special effects did such a good job with his makeup and mask. So, he was really scary-looking. It felt like one of those nostalgic episodes that is like Batman meets Stranger Things.”

Batwoman airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW.